Reading Thread/Goals for 2025

[wvjules]

#14 - The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros.
“The Last Letter is a haunting, heartbreaking and ultimately inspirational love story.“—InTouch Weekly

Beckett,

If you’re reading this, well, you know the last-letter drill. You made it. I didn’t. Get off the guilt train, because I know if there was any chance you could have saved me, you would have.

I need one thing from you: get out of the army and get to Telluride.

My little sister Ella’s raising the twins alone. She’s too independent and won’t accept help easily, but she has lost our grandmother, our parents, and now me. It’s too much for anyone to endure. It’s not fair.

And here’s the kicker: there’s something else you don’t know that’s tearing her family apart. She’s going to need help.

So if I’m gone, that means I can’t be there for Ella. I can’t help them through this. But you can. So I’m begging you, as my best friend, go take care of my sister, my family.

Please don’t make her go through it alone.

Ryan

I bawled at the end of this book. I am heartbroken. What a wonderful read

 

[clappyclaps]

9/30 - Guilty by Definition by Suzie Dent. 3/5.

I'd been intrigued to read this as Suzie is a staple on Countdown's dictionary corner, but ultimately it was far too wordy. Going into unnecessary explanations and descriptions about words that was far too much. A shame as the plot itself was actually vaguely decent.

 

[OKW8297]

8. State of Terror by Louise Penny and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Outstanding thriller.

 

[clappyclaps]

10/30 - His and Hers by Alice Feeney. 3.5/5

An above average thriller, well written and an easy read although I wasn't convinced with the ending.

 

[Simba's Mom]

#17/56-"The Lies We Leave Behind", Noelle Salazar. Another really good WWII book. I'd really rate it a 4 1/2, docking it a half point because the "twist" about 1/2 way through raised some questions and stretched credibility. But great read otherwise.

 

[melk]

14/30 Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

The story takes place over the weekend wedding of the daughter of a very socially awkward woman. She has to deal with her daughter, who confesses a secret, her ex-husband with his cat in tow, and her mother.

A very quick read, overall I liked it. There were some surprising revelations and I liked the ending.

 

[Wood Nymph]

15/30 - Battle Mountain - a Joe Pickett novel - by C.J. Box - 3/5

C.J. is very busy producing shows, writing screenplays and writing books. But maybe he is too busy because this story did not have the amount of action that his earlier books had. But the story was interesting. If you have followed Joe Pickett than this book works.

"The campaign of destruction that Axel Soledad and Dallas Cates wreaked on Nate Romanowski and Joe Pickett left both men in tatters, especially Nate, who lost almost everything. Wondering if the civilized life left him vulnerable to attack, Nate dropped off the grid with his falcons in tow to prepare for vengeance. When Joe gets a call from the governor asking for help finding his son-in-law, who has gone missing in the Sierra Madre mountain range, he enlists the help of a local, a rookie game warden named Susan Kany. As Nate and fellow falconer Geronimo Jones circle closer to their prey, Joe and Susan follow the nearly cold trail to Warm Springs. Little do Nate and Joe know that their separate journeys are about to converge . . . at Battle Mountain"-- Provided by publisher.

 

[Kirby]

This is book #2 of The Martini Club series. I enjoyed it a lot, but it wasn't quite as good as the first book in the series (The Spy Coast).

I hope to read this one day, it's in my book list but there are sooooo many books ahead of it.

#14 - The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros.

I've been tempted to read some of her other books since reading her Empyrean series. I'll definitely check it out.

#15 - The Do-Over by Sharon M Peterson
Genre - Romantic Comedy
This is my Book Club's pick for April. I definitely needed a light hearted book after reading Matthew Perry's book. While it wasn't outrageously funny, there were moments when I caught myself smiling and a chuckle appeared a time or two.

#16 - The Amish Matchmakers by Beth Wiseman
Genre - Inspirational
As always, I enjoyed reading this book with an Amish storyline.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Happy World Book Day everyone!

 

[wishiwasindisneyjen]

31/104: The Crash by Freida McFadden
Suspense about a pregnant woman who gets in an accident and is held against her will by her rescuers. The twists were a little forced and I was annoyed by the constant assumptions made by the two main characters but it was a quick and easy read for vacation. 3

32/104: Selling Sunshine by Mary Bonnet (Audio Book)
Memoir by a woman from the Netflix show Selling Sunset. My other hobby is watching crappy reality TV so nothing like combining reading and reality into one. Her story was interesting. I don't normally rate memoirs unless they are exceptional but I'd give it 3

33/104: We All Live Here by JoJo Moyes
Story of a blended family dealing with divorce, dating and parents/parenting. I felt that the story was too long and slow. 2.5 rounded up to 3

34/104: The Complete Anti-Inflammatory Diet for Beginners by Dorothy Calimeris
Trying to help my osteoarthritis with a better diet. This gave me some ideas but was mostly recipes.

35/104: The Snowbirds by Christina Clancy
A couple flees the midwestern winter for Palm Springs thinking the change of venue may help resolve their relationship/personal issues. Even though this was a pretty short book, I felt like it was too long. I didn't connect with either of the main characters and just found them both insufferable and selfish. 2

36/104: I'm That Girl by Jordan Chiles (Audio Book)
Memoir by Gymnast Jordan Chiles about how she began gymnastics, her experiences with a terrible coach and her experiences in the Olympics. I found her story very interesting and learned quite a bit about the behind the scenes stuff of elite gymnastics, which I've always been interested in. Just wish she waited a bit to finish the book so the medal controversy would have been completely resolved and the story would have a true ending. 5

37/104: Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
A woman meets a wonderful man at a bar and shares a kiss. The next day she realizes he's her new boss. Then she is befriended by his wife. Sounded interesting and there is an adaptation into a limited series on Netflix so thought I'd read it first, then watch. The ending is weird and really not what I was expecting at all (not in a good way). 3

 

[wvjules]

31/104: The Crash by Freida McFadden
Suspense about a pregnant woman who gets in an accident and is held against her will by her rescuers. The twists were a little forced and I was annoyed by the constant assumptions made by the two main characters but it was a quick and easy read for vacation. 3

I felt the same way. The two women drove me nuts. I did NOT see that final twist coming though.

 

[bobbiwoz]

31/50
“The Reading List” by Sara Nisha Adams. A friend read this for her book club, and recommended it. I began it, but found it difficult to get into, she said I would. Well, she was right, it may be a slow starter, but it’s a good book. 4.5/5

 

[willowsnn3]

#11/25 Down The Darkest Road by Tami Hoag
Four years after the unsolved disappearance of her sixteen-year-old daughter, Lauren Lawton is the only one still chasing the ghosts of her perfect Santa Barbara life. The world has given her daughter up for dead. Her husband ended his own life in the aftermath. Even Lauren's younger daughter is desperate to find what's left of the childhood she hasn't been allowed to have. Lauren knows exactly who took her oldest child, but there is not a shred of evidence against the man. Even as he stalks her family, Lauren is powerless to stop him

Third in the Oak Knoll series. It was pretty good.

 

[cayennews]

#15 This is Why We Lied by Karin Slaughter. This is the last book in the Will Trent series. It was a little disappointing.

 

[clappyclaps]

11/30 - The Lamplighter's Bookshop by Sophie Austin. 4.5/5. A surprisingly good novel set in the 19th century about a well off young woman who must learn how to survive when her family's wealth is squandered. The cliched romance aspects were a little irritating (men & women making assumptions rather than actually talking to each other), but otherwise very enjoyable.

 

[wvjules]

#15 Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (Book 1 of 7 of the Throne of Glass Series) - An assassin is summoned to the castle to compete against twenty-three murderers, thieves, and warriors in a competition to win her freedom.

Whelp, my second fantasy series has begun. (Who knew I'd be into fantasy!?!?!?) This book was good but did not live up to the hype I was expecting. However, I have heard that like ACOTAR, it picks up with the second book, which I started last night and I agree. I'm looking forward to seeing where this series goes.

 

[Wood Nymph]

16/30 - Loving Frank - by Nancy Horan - 3/5
This is historical fiction about the woman who left her husband and kids for a love relationship with Frank Lloyd Wright. I knew a bit about Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture, but not his personal life. I live in a Chicago suburb that is surrounded by many of his homes and buildings. My grandparents even had a house that was designed in his later style.

Mamah and her husband, Edwin, commission the renowned architect to design a new home for them. During the construction of the house, a powerful attraction developed between Mamah and Frank, and in time the lovers, each married with children, embarked on a course that would shock Chicago society and forever change their lives.

There wasn't much known about this relationship outside of newspaper stories. I can't say that I liked Mamah. The time period was 1904 to 1914, a time when women had very strict social rules. But it was hard to relate to her. The story was about her, not Frank.

 

[bobbiwoz]

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II - Sonia Purnell
An excellent book about Virginia Hall, an American, who was one of the first secret agents operating in France as the Nazi's took over. The book is very well written and it reads more like novel than a biography. 5/5


The Forgotten 500: The untold Story - Gregory A. Freemen
This is a recounting of the experience of mainly American airmen whose planes were damaged while bombing Nazi oil refineries in Romania. The damaged planes would crash on the way back to Italy leaving the airmen scattered throughout Nazi controlled Yugoslavia. Another well written and well researched book. 5/5


The Three Body-Body Problem - Liu Cixin
The Dark Forest - Liu Cixin
These are extremely imaginative science fiction stories that explore humanity's first contact with intelligent life on another planet. Very unique and slightly challenging to read but fascinating nonetheless. Reading the final book of the trilogy currently. 4/5

Thanks! I just put myself on the waiting list for these 2-I'm fascinated by WWII books.

I went and put a hold on this too!

32/50
“A Woman of No Importance “ by Sonia Purnell.
4.5/5

 

[Lumpy1106]

6/20 "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn - generous 4 of 5 stars. This was good - had some fun twists, but the characters were all so unlikeable - it really took me out of the story
7/20 "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" byToshikazu Kawaguchi - also generous 4 of 5 stars - this was on a lot of "most read 2024" lists so I put myself on the wait list. The story is there is a cafe where you can go and sit in a particular seat and go back in time but there are a ton of rules. It was good, and there are some fun relationships between the people who chose to go back in time, but...I had a hard time relating to it. I think that's because all the characters are Japanese so the names were hard to connect with. it's also a cultural thing - the way husband and wife interact with each other was quite different than what I would consider normal. Liked it, didn't love it. There are 2 follow up books to this but I don't think I will be reading them.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I havent read a book in a long time. This is strange since we literally have a room in our house with each wall with shelves full of books we’ve inherited from relatives and some bought myself, many I haven’t read yet. I have been listening to books on the Audible app. Its easy to listen while I’m cooking, cleaning, driving kids around or whatever but it’s not the same and I miss sitting down with a good book. I’ve decided to start reading a book from our collection each week. I started a few weeks ago.

So far I’ve read:

“The Covenant of Water” Its about a family in India over a period of about 70 years, where someone in each generation dies by drowning due to what they think is a curse. It’s a good book.

“American Cosmic” it’s a non fiction book about a religious professor who gets immersed in the secret governmental world of ufo research. Great book (and true story) if you’re into that kind of thing.

“Our Mothers War” Non fiction book about women during WW2, at home and on the front. Really good book but long.

“Discovery of Witches” first book of the series. A woman discovers she’s a witch and ends up falling in love with a vampire, who should be her enemy. I really liked this.

“Treachery in Death” by JD Robb (Nora Robert’s pen-name). I’ve read a bunch of the “in death” books, they’re nice, easy reads. There’s a ton of them in the series. They’re about a female detective in the future, each books a different crime to solve.

Current book I’m on is “the Mermaid” about a mermaid who leaves the ocean to marry a human she fell in love with and after he dies she allows herself to become a sideshow in PT Barnums circus so she can make money. It’s ok so far.

Next on my agenda: the next book in the Discovery of Witches series.